Downton Abbey I enjoyed - I'm not surprised that it easily overturned Inspector George Gently in the ratings, even if the latter is at last made in north-east England rather than Ireland as with the previous two series. The storyline was predictable - the duke of Crowborough's relationship with Thomas was telegraphed a light year away, and his romp through the servants' quarters marked him out as a cad (in contrast to the weak but decent earl of Grantham) even without his drawer-rifling.
As for the entail issue, it's surprising how many fortunes were entailed on heirs male, in order to support the peerage dignity, until quite recent times. IIRC, the breaking of the entail on the estate of the sixteenth duke of Norfolk, to allow his daughters to inherit part of the estate, was a knotty business and was still underway when he died in 1975 - the seventeenth duke (a third cousin once removed, though himself a hereditary peer already and a soldier and spy rather than a solicitor) had to defend many of the provisions already as good as overturned in order to keep Arundel Castle out of the hands of the National Trust.
no subject
As for the entail issue, it's surprising how many fortunes were entailed on heirs male, in order to support the peerage dignity, until quite recent times. IIRC, the breaking of the entail on the estate of the sixteenth duke of Norfolk, to allow his daughters to inherit part of the estate, was a knotty business and was still underway when he died in 1975 - the seventeenth duke (a third cousin once removed, though himself a hereditary peer already and a soldier and spy rather than a solicitor) had to defend many of the provisions already as good as overturned in order to keep Arundel Castle out of the hands of the National Trust.